Colton Haynes Honored by Human Rights Campaign

This article is really confusing me. I’m gay and I didn’t know the word “cocksucker” was an “anti-gay slur.” First, gay men are not the only people who do THAT. Second, and I know this will come as a surprise to some of you, but a lot of gay men don’t do THAT, ever. Being gay, once again, is not all about sex. I know gay men who are asexual. So maybe THAT word is an “Anti-gay slur” when one straight guy says it to another straight guy?

In any event, the Governor of Maine, Paul LePage, left a scathing voice mail, with several pejoratives, because he was allegedly called a racist and he was defending himself.

‘Mr. Gattine, this is Governor Paul Richard LePage,’ the recording started. ‘I would like to talk to you about your comments about my being a racist, you cocksucker. I want to talk to you. I want you to prove that I’m a racist. I’ve spent my life helping black people and you little son-of-a-bitch, socialist cocksucker. You … I need you to, just friggin. I want you to record this and make it public because I am after you. Thank you.’

There are plenty of “anti-gay slurs” in this world, I’ve heard them all…because I’m gay. I just don’t see one here. In fact, I didn’t see any references to gay people at all in these quotes.

On a more positive note, The Human Rights Campaign has decided to honor the wonderful Colton Haynes for helping to break barriers and providing inspiration to others through his visibility.

‘By simply being open about who he is, Haynes is helping to break down barriers and tear down closet doors,’ Griffin added.

Haynes, 28, came out publicly earlier this year and has been candid about his difficult journey to self-acceptance. He has been dealing with anxiety issues since the fifth grade and his condition was exacerbated by feeling he had to stay closeted to have a successful career as an actor.

Here’s the rest. I think what Haynes is doing is fantastic. And no one deserves the award more than he does.

Egyptian Police Entrap Gay Men With Grindr

This kind of police entrapment might be new to hook up and dating apps, but it’s not new to gay men. Long before Grindr ever came along, the police were (and still are in some places) entrapping gay men in public rest rooms, state parks, and other places where some gay men are known to cruise… sometimes. The big difference here is that when this happens in Egypt, the penalties are far stronger than the usual disorderly conduct charge here in the US.

Police in Egypt are said to be luring gay men on hookup app Grindr and arresting them, even though it’s legal to be gay.

Reports from local media suggest the police are using features of the app, namely location and profile pictures, to identify them.

The men are then charged with ‘inciting debauchery’. According to the Jerusalem Post, 11 men were sentenced for up to 12 years in prison for this charge, in April. You can check out the rest here.

Ryan Field is the author of over 100 published works of LGBT fiction, the best selling Virgin Billionaire series, a pg rated hetero romance that was featured on The Home Shopping Network titled, "Loving Daylight," and a few more works of full length fiction with a pen name. He's worked in publishing for twenty years as a writer, editor, and associate editor. His work has been in Lambda Award winning anthologies and he's self-published a few novels with Ryan Field Press. You can reach him by leaving a comment here, or at rfieldj@aol.com